Two factors potentially affect observers'attributions of responsibility to a rape survivor: how closely they identify with the survivor and how much they adhere to rape myths. To assess the impact of these factors, 157 female college students categorized by their sexual assault history and by their acceptance of rape myths, evaluated a sexual assault scenario. It was hypothesized that previously victimized participants would attribute less blame, and that those participants who self-identify as rape survivors would view the assault as rape more often than other participants. Neither hypothesis was supported. As expected, those who scored higher on the Rape Myths Acceptance Scale(RMAS) blamed the victim more and were less likely to believe rape had occurred. Only one subscale of the RMAS, Adversarial Sexual Beliefs, was consistently associated with participants'evaluation of the scenario, suggesting that this dimension may be especially important to understanding an observer's assessment of rape.

Perceptions of and reactions to date rape affect whether women will report their victimizations and whether authorities will prosecute the accused. The current research examines the effects of race of assailant (Black or White) and victim (Black or White) and gender (male orfemale) of subjects on perceptions of a date rape. The 75 subjects read a scenario describing a date that ended with forced sexual intercourse. The subjects responded to a series of questions about the interaction. It was hypothesized that (a) a forced sexual encounter would be perceived as less serious when the victim was a Black woman than if she were a White woman, (b)forced sexual activity between a Black male and a Whitefemale would be more likely to be considered date rape and a crime than would the same activity between a same-race couple or between a White male and a Blackfemale; (c)females would be more likely than males to define the forced sexual encounter as a crime, and females would be more in favor of prosecuting the perpetrator The second hypothesis was not supported. The other hypotheses were strongly supported. It is suggested that society be educated to replace stereotypes about date rape with accurate information. Otherwise, women-particularly Black women-will continue to be reluctant to report sexual assaults, cases of rape will be difficult to prosecute, and the assailants will continue to victimize others.

The prevalence of rape myths contributes to victims' reluctance to report rapes. Black (n = 30) and White (n = 96) U.S. college students responded to the Rape Myth Scale (Burt, 1980) and read a scenario of an acquaintance rape; the race of the perpetrator and victim (Black or White) were varied. The respondents assessed the victim's and perpetrator's responsibility and evaluated the incident. As hypothesized, the respondents with strong beliefs in rape myths were more tolerant of the rapist and less tolerant of the victim than were those with weaker beliefs. There was limited support for the myth of the Black rapist and White victim; however, the myth of the Black rapist appeared particularly strong among the Black respondents. The women responded more negatively to the rapist and more positively to the victim than the men did. Such biases in attitudes toward rape could keep women from reporting rapes and accused rapists from receiving fair trials.

When people's belief in a just world (BJW) is challenged, it can be restored by attributing blame to the victim or alleviating the victim's suffering. In criminal cases, jurors can attribute responsibility to victims, but cannot alleviate suffering. Participants (n= 106) heard a taped civil rape case. The effect of age of plaintiff, gender of participant, and type of participant on mock jurors' reactions to a plaintiff were examined. Participants evaluated responsibility of plaintiff and awarded monetary damages. It was hypothesized that, given this opportunity to compensate the victim, jurors would be less likely to derogate the victim. As hypothesized, women with high and low BJW attributed the same level of responsibility to the plaintiff but those with a high BJW awarded more monetaly damages. Men with high BJW awarded much less in damages than did men with low BJW. The just‐world theory appears to explain many of the decisions made by mock jurors.

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